It’s funny how we remember the picture books our parents read to us when we were children. I
remember one entitled “Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad
Day.” It begins,
I
went to sleep with gum in my mouth, and now there’s gum in my hair, and when I
got out of bed this morning I tripped on the skateboard and by mistake I
dropped my sweater in the sink while the water was running and I could tell it
was going to be a terrible horrible no good very bad day.
When I became an adult, I
quickly realized that terrible horrible no good very bad days still happen--they
just get a lot more expensive!
In Acts 27, we see a Christian believer, namely the Apostle Paul, do
several things well during severe duress: (a) remain transfixed on the
sovereignty of God, (b) praise God during the peak of a calamitous storm, and
(c) rise from obscurity to lead a contingent of the most ungodly passengers.
Storms, Shipwrecks,
and Snakebites
Acts chapters 27 and 28
read like a fast-paced novella. First Paul, Luke, Julius the Roman Centurion,
and the prisoners were driven far off their path by a furious storm (27:27).
Second, the sailors attempt to escape the doomed ship, leaving the others to
die (27:30-32). Third, the ship struck a reef, was run aground, and was
destroyed by the surf (27:41). Fourth, there is a murder plot by the soldiers to
kill Paul and his fellow prisoners (27:42). And finally as if that wasn’t
enough—Paul is bitten by a poisonous viper (28:1-10). This series of events is
enough to fray the nerves and destroy the composure of any grown man.
Here are two factors
outside your control: the sovereignty of God and the depravity of sinful men. Try
as you might to labor, manipulate, finagle, and coax God and others—we are very much at the mercy
of these two forces. However this is not to say that your life is like that Alexandrian
grain ship in Acts 27, smashed between the surf of destiny and the rocks of
fate. There is one factor that you can
control in the midst of the life's hurricanes: your response.
I believe it is possible
to discern the difference between a mature and immature Christian by what
questions they ask during storms, shipwrecks, and snakebites.
- Unbelievers and immature Christians ask “What is God doing TO me?”
- But the mature Christian—who knows both the power of God and the decadence of man-- asks a different question entirely, “What is God doing THROUGH me?”
The thing I like most
about Acts 27:33-38 is the absurdity of this scene. Picture this: the ship is
three verses away from being smashed to pieces. By the time the sun rises in
the sky, every man on that boat will be clinging to boards and paddling for
shore. And yet the Apostle Paul—a prisoner himself—decides to host a picnic! And
who are the guests? All 276 men aboard including sailors, soldiers, and prisoners. I cannot
think of a more ungodly list of dinner guests.
Yet in the midst
of the hurricane, with both natural and human evil tearing the ship apart, we see
the Apostle Paul--with chains on his wrists--speaking the words of Jesus (“not
a hair on your head will perish,” cf. Matthew 10:30 and Luke 21:18), and imitating
the compassionate deeds of Jesus (taking bread, thanking God, breaking and
eating the bread; cf. Matthew 15:36). With this simple gesture with bread, Paul
is pointing to Christ as his supreme joy in the midst of the storm.
Just a simple loaf of bread! That’s all Paul had in his
hands for which to give thanks while the ship sinks! It’s not even toasted
bread! No jam to slab on it. No coffee in which to dip it. Not a daub of butter
on deck anywhere to be found! Just month-old bread. Did anyone see a “Panera” restaurant
anywhere in this passage? It’s probably even a bit wet from the sea and the
storm. Possibly a bit green with mold. Likely it was stored fore weeks in a barrel or cargo
hold somewhere. Just three Christians, Paul, Luke, and Aristarchus and a hoard
of pagans, in one of the most unlikely worship services on the biblical record.
And in the midst
of the storm, for just a few moments, there is a wonderful, worshipful,
thankful, silence. Just 276 men silently chewing their sea-nasty bread. "Be still and know that I am God" (Psalm 46:10).
I love how chapter 27 ends with these words: “And so it was that all were brought safely to land.” Safely? Is that a bit of an overstatement? I don’t think so.
It seems that, despite the storm, God carried out His merciful plan and honored His promises after all. It turns out God is a good and merciful God. He really does work all things according to the council of His perfect will. If you are in Christ, there is no safer place in the universe then in the center of His plan.
I love how chapter 27 ends with these words: “And so it was that all were brought safely to land.” Safely? Is that a bit of an overstatement? I don’t think so.
It seems that, despite the storm, God carried out His merciful plan and honored His promises after all. It turns out God is a good and merciful God. He really does work all things according to the council of His perfect will. If you are in Christ, there is no safer place in the universe then in the center of His plan.
At some point in your
life, like Alexander in the children’s book my mother read to me, you may find
yourself having a “terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day.” You may find
yourself drifting in the open water clinging to a splintered board. But if you
are in Christ, there is no safer place in the world.
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